It's unclear if the behind-the-scenes discussions will actually result in a bill coming to the floor, but Democrats say drafts of legislation already have been written and are being vetted behind the scenes.

"There is the formation of a consensus," said Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who said he's seen a draft bill. "We're looking at some kind of a compromise. It's still comprehensive in nature but not to the extent we would like."

Baca said the prospects for a compromise package were discussed in high-level meetings Wednesday that included Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. Baca said the emerging legislation did not have the broader reforms included in last year's failed Senate immigration overhaul or in earlier measures backed by Hispanics, such as the DREAM Act.

But Baca said the key piece for Hispanics is a five-year visa for illegal immigrants who can prove they have a job. The visa is well short of past bills that would grant permanent legal status, which critics decried as "amnesty."

"There is no path towards citizenship," Baca said. "There are still fines and criminal background checks and you have to pay back taxes. This is what the taxpayers want."

Baca said Democrats still are trying to work out exactly how the new visas would work or be enforced.

Baca said there also would be an expansion of visas for technical, temporary and agricultural workers - measures strongly backed by businesses and many Republicans.

But whether House leaders will actually put immigration on the floor with such a controversial provision as visas for illegal immigrants in an election year remains an open question.

Just last month at a Jan. 25 press conference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) predicted nothing would happen this year on immigration, blaming the president for failing to get enough Republican support last year.

Reid said at a National Press Club event with Pelosi. "We have the presidential election, we have a number of very important House and Senate races, and our time is really squeezed."

Pelosi also sounded a pessimistic note at the press conference.

Emanuel said Thursday at a press conference that House Democrats are looking to address both the issues of legal and illegal immigration without waiting on the Senate, although he did not discuss specifics.

"There are things that are happening in our respective communities and districts around the country and businesses that we have to address and we can't wait for the Senate," he said.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said Republican support will be key. "We think there's a bipartisan desire to do something on immigration that deals with our sovereign right to regulate our borders, to deal with the workplace, and to deal with the 10 million to 12 million people who are here, many of whom don't deserve to stay, many of whom have earned a chance, if we require them to learn English and abide by all of our laws. But we have to have some bipartisan support."

Lofgren confirmed Thursday that she is in negotiations over new legislation, but she declined to discuss the details of the new bill, other than to say, "It's not comprehensive immigration reform." Lofgren added that she is reaching out to Republicans on the issue and hopes to reach a compromise.

The immigration issue also could be affected by the emergence of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) as the Republican frontrunner for president, given his support for last year's failed immigration deal. That appeared to offer just a sliver of daylight to the issue.

A re-emergence of immigration in the coming months would put McCain in a politically awkward position, as he has been seeking to repair ties to conservatives who despise his past support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and yet he will be looking ahead to a general election in which the Hispanic vote could prove critical.

"It depends on which John McCain steps forward," Becerra said of whether McCain's emergence will help move the issue.

Pelosi's office also highlighted the bipartisan angle.

"The Democratic Caucus is continuing to discuss a wide variety of immigration issues, but long-term immigration reform must be comprehensive and bipartisan," said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami.

But even Republicans who have backed past bipartisan reform efforts are not optimistic anything will happen this election year. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), the co-author of comprehensive legislation backed by Hispanics last year, said he doesn't see anything happening beyond some tweaking of the level of work visas until the next Congress.

A House GOP leadership aide also dismissed the idea that such legislation would move.

Even if Democratic leaders wanted to ignore the issue wholesale until after the elections, they may not be able to, given the pressure bubbling up within the party. In addition to Hispanics, leaders face pressure from more conservative Democrats who back a package of enforcement measures sponsored by Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.).

"A lot of Members in more conservative districts want to be able to cast a vote they can run on," said Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), who supports the Shuler legislation. But, Davis asserted, action on that measure should not preclude other legislation from moving ahead.

Democratic leaders could conceivably face a discharge petition on the issue, although any enforcement-only measure would be sure to invite a revolt by Hispanics.

Baca said the legislation under consideration could have some enforcement measures, adding that too much could bog it down.

Regardless of who wins we’ll have to beat them back one more time. I suspect they will “try” something to appear strong on the border a few weeks before the election just like the fence they never intended to build.

House Democrats are crafting scaled-down immigration reform legislation despite the political minefields that surround the issue, with Hispanic Members seeking five-year visas for illegal immigrants who pay fines and pass criminal background checks.

Immigration reform had been left for dead after last year's Senate train wreck, but pressures for at least stopgap immigration legislation have bubbled up within the Democratic Caucus.

oh one other thing congress did this week.... Hearings on ballplayers....??? How bad do you want to lose your nation? or a better idea for the candidates running for president and congress. Vote for me, I'll destroy America, and make our enemies proud!

At least that would be the truth.

10
posted on 02/14/2008 1:17:05 PM PST
by From One - Many
(Trust the Old Media At Your Own Risk.)

You can expect a tidal wave of illegals trying to enter the country in the upcoming weeks and months in anticipation of an amnesty now that it is known that all three of the remaining candidates—McCain, Obama, and Hillary—favor amnesty. And the border is far from being secured.

Since 80% of Americans want illegal immigration stopped, Nancy, Harry and company will produce a piece of proposed legislation prior to elections. A show piece that is, without intentions or actions to stop this source of future Dem voters, regardless of the will of those 80% of Americans that want illegal immigration stopped.

The Democrats are trying to secure the Hispanic vote for themselves. Republicans must come out strongly for an even better bill and have it signed by President Bush so that Hispanics can see which party really looks after their best interests.

17
posted on 02/15/2008 11:57:55 AM PST
by End Times Crusader
(The Ann Coulter Suicide Voters Brigade - Electing Democrats because they don't get their way. JIHAD!)

Well, now that McCain seems to be the inevitable “Republican” candidate,
we might as well get used to the idea that the US Treasury will be
drained by the AMNESTIED illegals when they come forth for their
Social Security Benefits and back-year Earned Income Tax Credits.

So much for LAW-ABIDING folks having a nice retirement...
they are going to be bled dry by paying for freebies for illegals that
“earned income” by being identity thieves.

I think I’ll go buy a few examples of the cheapest dog food...
so I can get used to what my retirement will taste like in a McCain/Obama world.

Good points. But I think we've hit a high water mark for the Hispanic vote in the GOP. When we see Republicans occasionally getting 35% or 40% of the Hispanic vote, we must remember that that includes those Hispanics who are largely white: Cubans, and some Hispanics in the Southwest whose ancestry in America goes back several generations. They're as prone to vote Republican as Anglo whites, perhaps even more so in the case of the Cubans.

But those aren't the people sneaking across the border into our nation. The white populations in Latin American nations are the upper classes and they have no reason to leave their native land. They might vote Republican if they were here, but they aren't. They're in Venezuela, for example, voting against Chavez. The people sneaking into our nation are largely Mestizos, people of aboriginal ancestry who are the type of voters who elect people like Chavez, Ortega, and Mexico's leftist parties.

In addition, white Hispanics don't have half a dozen kids. They have the same low birth rate as whites of English or Dutch or German ancestry, from what I can tell.

In other words, it may be possible for the current Latino population of the U.S. to vote 40% Republican, but once we start down the road of amnesty, we'll be flooding the polls with millions and millions of new Hispanic voters who will almost all be non-white Mestizos who will vote probably no more than 20% Republican, and their millions of children will turn voting age in a few election cycles and vote Democrat as well.

Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, is a DAMN LIER. He is quoted as stating: "There is no path towards citizenship," Baca said. "There are still fines and criminal background checks and you have to pay back taxes. This is what the taxpayers want."

This is a five year visa. Well take a little look at what happens at the five year mark.

Eligibility for U.S. Citizenship "Be a permanent resident for not less than five years. (If a person obtained permanent residence through marriage to a U.S. citizen, they may be eligible for naturalization in three years if the couple has been married for 3 years, if the spouse was a citizen during that entire period, and if the couple are still living in marital unity);

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